


Nighttime Fever

by SHSL_Bullshit



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Fever, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sickness, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-08 15:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12257079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHSL_Bullshit/pseuds/SHSL_Bullshit
Summary: He was sick, he had realized it already, but it wasn't anything new. Komaeda's body had always been prone to fall ill. Being woken up in the middle of the night with a fever was something he hated the most.





	Nighttime Fever

He was sick, he had realized it already, but it wasn't anything new. Komaeda's body had always been prone to fall ill.  
  
Ever since he was a child, he spent most of his life staying in hospitals and visiting doctors. Even years after his parents died nothing had change– before enrolling to Hope's Peak Academy, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and third-stage lymphoma.  
  
The Despair Disease had worse effects on him even in the NEO world program- drifting into a critical condition by a nonexistent illness made by the virus that was Monokuma, and disappeared as fast as it infected him.

This fever, of course, wasn't anything new either. And as expected of his luck, it struck him at the worst time; at the hour that all he wanted to do was to get some sleep.  
  
Being woken up in the middle of the night with a fever was something he hated the most, he couldn't come up with a proper explaination to describe how horrible it felt.  
  
In addition to the deliriousness and unbearable nausea sending shivers to his limbs, his brain always flooded with thoughts and emotions he usually backed into the bottom of his mind and bury them deep inside until he could hardly remember:  
  
The same vulnerability he felt when he realized his luck will always take control of his life; the immense self-hatred of his weakness that made his heart ache; the distress he felt after the deaths of his parents and his pet dog that left him scarred for life; and that one day in middle-school when he was kidnapped by a serial-killer, and being thrown away immediately after no distant family member was willing to pay his ransom.  
  
With his eyes burning and his nose stuffy, he just couldn’t sleep. Whenever he tried to close his eyes and drift away he would wake up sole minutes after with his throat cramping. He let out a frustrated groan and walked out of his bed to the bathroom and just vomited until he could feel his insides were about to spill out of his throat.  
  
After the painful release, he washed his face and wiped his nose and watery eyes, staring back at his own reflection in pure distaste.  
  
_He hated it, he hated his luck, he hated himself..._  
  
  
At moments such as this, the pale boy would recall of his closest friend, Hinata Hajime– who stayed in his cottage next door, just a few feet away. His friend told him that he's always welcomed to come to his cottage whenever he needed help.  
  
However, up until now the opposite was true. Komaeda hardly thought of going to Hinata's cottage at all if it wasn't for a good reason. But whenever it was Hinata who felt necessary to visit his, Komaeda had always welcomed him with open arms.  
  
Hinata had problems of his own, a lot recently. He woken up with a new, fresh identity contained Kamukura Izuru's talents and traits. Those made it difficult for him to conduct sometimes. Not only once he experiences identity crises and moments of frustration and insecurity, but he always managed to rise above despair and go back to be the same hopeful and bright Hinata Hajime everyone on this island admired.  
  
Komaeda loved that trait of Hinata the most, he adored him more than anyone else could. Komaeda had developed a special place in his heart for the other boy ever since he met him, and his feelings grew stronger the more he spent with him.  
  
Komaeda was not at all an expert in comfort, but for some reason, Hinata always chose to talk to him. He felt flattered greatly by the fact, if not flustered; but never had he dared to ask Hinata hear out his own problems or to share his feelings with him. His life taught him a harsh lesson to bury any sign of negative emotions deep inside, hiding them by an optimistic air and a relaxed smile. Waking up to a new reality hadn't stopped him from grasping that mask and keeping on the act of a person free from any suffering or conscience.  
  
Even when the brown haired boy asked him about his well being, Komaeda brushed it off with his usual carefree smile, although Komaeda knew that Hinata was observant enough to know that he was lying.  
  
Even after he constantly offered him comfort and a sympathetic ear, assuring him that he is willing to listen, Komaeda would politely decline.  
  
He was unworthy of Hinata's attention, under deserving of his company, he was a pathetic and a horrible person who brought only  frustration to everyone around him with his mere presence. A person whose absurd luck was whimsical, and destructive, wiping away everything and everyone he ever loved.  
  
How could a trash like him even think of bothering Hinata with his entangled, preposterous complexes?  
  
It's not even an option for him.  
  
He tried to convince himself of this yet again, at that very moment he felt distressed, forcing himself to sleep- but to no avail. The fever was only getting worse.  
  
That didn't surprised him, he was used to suck it up and suffer silently after he had no adult figure to look after him. Because it was one of those memories he just couldn't bare to recall- the memory of the child who was creeping onto his parents' bed when he felt sick or had a nightmare, laid sandwiched on the mattress between his mother and father.  
  
He couldn't explain why, but whenever he laid down, in his parents company at those accursed moments, he slept like a baby. How desperate he was to have those moments of sleeping peacefully again, something on the back of his mind was screaming, begging that he doesn't want to suffer silently like this any longer.  
  
He made a decision he will probably regret later on. Reluctantly he got up his bed, leaving his cottage, not bothering to replace his pajamas into his usual wardrobe of green parka, white shirt and pair of jeans, nor putting on his silver left-hand prosthesis.  
  
  
The white-haired male approached the familiar cottage in heavy steps and raspy breaths. The cool breeze made his teeth chatter, he regretted not throwing his parka on.  
  
He stopped at the door, not making a single movement. He just stood there in silence, the sound of crickets and his wheezing filled the background. While gazing at the door, his bony hand made it way slowly towards the door, but stopped midway.  
  
Another wave of pain made him light-headed and dizzy, urging his quavering hand to tap the wooden door softly.  
  
He could hardly hear himself knocking, after a few seconds of silence was enough to convince him the other side wasn't about to open the door.  
  
But just when he was about to turn around, the door opened and the pale boy was greeted by a drowsy pair of heterochromic eyes.  
  
"Hh-Hey Komaeda..." Hinata greeted him with a yawn, Komaeda just felt bad for waking him up. "Good evening, Hinata-kun. I'm sorry for waking you up." Komaeda greeted back weakly, his voice raspy and throat sore with each syllable came out of it.  
  
"It's alright. Is everything okay? You don't look very well." The brunet said as he rubbed his eyes lazily, his red left eye was gleaming lightly in the dark, as if he was voicing  Kamukura's words. Komaeda was about to open his mouth to reply but felt dizziness take over him all of the sudden, and he bursted into heavy coughing. Hinata called his name in worry, stepping forward as he took a grip of his shoulder to hold him still. He froze when he felt the other's cold hand making contact with his burning forehead; Hinata's eyes widening at the touch, soon his eyelashes lowered down, serious expression taking over.  
  
"Your fever is quite serious. We can't leave you like this." The brunet said firmly.  
  
"I- am so sorry, Hinata-kun... F-for worrying you in such a hour, I'll just leave-" Komaeda apologized between coughs and turned around slightly as he was about to go back, embarrassed of the whole ordeal.  
  
A hand took a tight grasp of his, stopping him from going any further. He turned around to look at Hinata, whose expression only turned more and more severe.  
  
"Be quiet, just come on in."  
  
And Komaeda- too tired to even protest- let himself be dragged inside of the brunet's cottage.  
  
____  
  
  
The pale boy was laid down on Hinata's roomy bed.  
  
Hinata murmured a 'wait here' before leaving the cottage.  
  
Komaeda was laying on his back, face directed to the ceiling, his breaths are the only sound filling the silence of the space. Raspy and heavy pantings leaving his lips, beads of sweat clung to his forehead and the rest of his body, making the fabric of his pajamas stick onto his skin. The heat of his fever made his head to swirl. His limbs too weak to make any movement, they laid limp sprawled in different directions.  
  
After a few minutes that felt like forever, the brunet has returned with a small bucket and a small towel, closing the door behind him and entering the bathroom. The sound of water tapping the metal could be heard, and as soon as it stopped, Hinata returned and sat on the bed next to half-delirious Komaeda with the water-filled bucket in his lap.  
  
Komaeda caught a glimpse at Hinata who was dipping the towel in a bucket and squeezed it immediately afterwards. He paid close attention the brunet's toned muscles constrict and then relax as he squeezed the liquid out of the fabric, and he couldn't help but to feel smitten. The shame and fix of his inappropriate thoughts drained all the color from his face, perhaps the fever revoked his self-restraint. However it thankfully distracted him from any further discomfort of the sickness for awhile.  
  
His face redden when the brunet leaned towards him, and soon after he felt a great relief when the cold towel was being wrapped around his burning forehead.  
  
"This should do it, and tomorrow you're going to let Tsumiki examine you, got it?" The brunet asked, most likely demanded. Komaeda giggled at how parental Hinata sounded, but nodded nevertheless.  
  
They just stayed like this for awhile; Komaeda breathing rate relaxed, Hinata sat right next to him, dipping the towel every ten minutes and putting it back on his forehead. His pale skin redden, which seemed to concern the brunet even more. The pale boy almost burst in laughter at how oblivious his friend was, even with his new analytic abilities.  
  
"You worry too much, Hinata-kun..." Komaeda breathed. "I'm already used to have those every now and then..."  
  
"That's something that should worry me, Komaeda. Your body is more fragile than most of us, so stop taking it so lightly." Answered Hinata, his hand reached to examine Komaeda's forehead once more, moving away his white locks, the damp sweat sticking to his fingers.  
  
"Your fever went down a bit, that's good. But you should rest."  
  
"Oh well... I should probably go back to my cottage then.." Said the feverish, about to stand up. Only to be stopped harshly by Hinata's hands putting him back down onto the mattress.  
  
"Komaeda, why only now?" Hinata's voice sadden, so did his expression. He looked _Disappointed_. He looked at Komaeda in the same manner a parent looks at their child who was caught up in a lie or a bad deed.  
  
"What?" A dumbfounded Komaeda asked.  
  
"Why only now you've decided to come to my cottage? I told you many times before that you can come, but you never took it seriously." Hinata sounded genuinely offended as he spoke, and Komaeda couldn't understand why. "I don't see a reason to bother you with such petty problems, Hinata-kun. I truly appreciate your kindness, but someone like me isn't worth your time and effort." Said the pale boy with a weak smile.  
  
Hinata groaned, not content with his answer for a bit. Even when Komaeda was in that kind of condition, he never ceased to be so unhealthily self-deprecating. And that was one thing that drove Hinata mad.  
  
"You're an idiot Komaeda." Hinata's eyebrows squinted. "I wouldn't have offered you to come so many times if I believed you didn't deserve it. We've been through it already so many times!" The pair of bicoloured eyes pierced through Komaeda's greyish-green ones, his anger and frustration was clear more than ever and it left him rendered speechless.  
  
"It isn't fair that it's just me who talks with you when I feel bad. And whenever I know there's something that bothers you, you always have that stupid smile on your face, even though both of us know that you're not telling the truth. Do you really need to be delirious enough to have courage to come and just knock at my door?"  
  
"Hinata-kun, I don't get any of what you say. Why does it makes you so upset?" Questioned Komaeda, fuddled.  
  
"Because I want to understand you, but you just wouldn't let me!" Hinata's tone was rising up with each word. "I can no longer tell when you're being honest or lying, nor about if you see me as a friend or as a 'living embodiment of hope' and bullshit. Our interaction feels one-sided... It's like you don't even trust me." Despite the vertigo, Komaeda was observant enough of his friend's sudden burst of emotion. He had never seen Hinata that emotional before- Not at any of the trials of the killing game they were forced into, not even when the boy confronted him with his troubles, he had never raised his tone or shed a single tear, nor his body language showed any sign for vulnerability. Both of Hinata and Kamukura created a restrained and calm persona; he might have been showing discomfort or frustration, but never something as fierce as what he witnessed at the moment.

 _And it was all his fault yet again..._  
  
"To think I caused you great grief without even doing anything... I really am a piece of trash, aren't I?" The pale boy laughed bitterly, his voice hoarse.  
  
"Stop it, get rid of that habit of calling yourself  'trash’ already, or I'll get really mad." Scolded back the brunet.

"Now, I want to hear it from you- do you want to stay with me tonight?"

Komaeda kept silence, hesitated to open his mouth.  
  
"It's an easy yes or no question, Komaeda." He added.  
  
"I... would really like that, Hinata-kun." He replied. It wasn't a 'yes', but Hinata seemed satisfied with his answer.   
  
He laid right next to him, pulling the blanket  over them and turning off the light on the drawer. Komaeda turned around on his side to face the brunet, whose face were mere inches away from his. Thankfully the darkness prevented the other from witnessing the massive blush spreading on his cheeks.

"Promise me that if you feel bad you'll come to talk to me, just like I do... For real this time. We're friends, and you don't have to be alone. Okay?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Okay then... I promise." Answered Komaeda, this time confident to listen to his friend's request. He didn't need to relay on his eyes to know that Hinata was smiling, he could just feel it.

"Good. Goodnight, Komaeda." Hinata murmured. Komaeda returned the gesture and made himself comfortable. it was enough to make him forget of his overwhelming discomfort of his sickness, his stuffy nose and throat no longer ached, and he couldn't care any less of his long forgotten nausea.  
  
He stayed awake for the following minutes,  observing the sleeping form of the boy next to him, his rhythmic breathes were a relaxing melody to his ears. At least that was his assumption until he felt fingers brushing through his own. the other’s strong hand locked with his skinny one; squeezing it firmly, but gently. 

Komaeda felt a small, genuine smile creep up on his lips.  
  
Perhaps it was caused due to the fever, and he probably was going to regret this in the morning– yet he didn't resist the urge to lean his head slightly onto Hinata's stiff shoulder. 

And for the first time in his years of being utterly alone at those accursed moments, he slept like a baby.

**Author's Note:**

> My first Komahina one shot, it isn't the best... But I hope it at least likely. 
> 
> I was sick lately and this idea came to mind.  
> Funny thing is that when I was sick as a child, I couldn't sleep well in my own bed. But whenever I came to my parents' bed, I somehow managed to fall asleep relatively quickly. 
> 
> Does science has an explaination to it?


End file.
